


Solid Foundations

by Sarcastic_Raspberry



Series: Solid Foundations [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Familystuck, Gen, Humanstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-03-16 15:43:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3493841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarcastic_Raspberry/pseuds/Sarcastic_Raspberry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daniel Scar Ampora and his wife, Ruth Glare Pyrope, have started a new life together and had four beautiful children. Just how did they survive that?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Solid Foundations

Your name is Daniel Scar Ampora. You have just gotten married to the girl of your dreams- one girl who you know for a fact would disappoint past you so much. But you’ve changed since then. You’re a successful business man now, married to none other than Ruth Glare Pyrope. She has red hair and the softest green eyes you’ve ever seen. She’s beautiful and, in a way, she’s yours. She’d kill you if you ever said something like that to her though because she’s also the kind of woman who won’t take any of that shit from anyone, even her husband.

Now your life with her is truly beginning. And you’re happy for it.

* * *

It’s been three years since your wedding day and you’re sitting outside of a bathroom while your wife is now deciding your future inside. Your stomach is in knots and you’re sitting down because she said she’d “smack some sense into you if you keep pacing like that” and you believe her. You’re not worried.

That’s a lie. You are worried, but not about it testing positive. You’re worried about everything else. It’s not like a lawyer has a lot of time on their hands- and the same goes for a CEO of any corporate company. You barely have enough time together as it is and now you’re going to have to worry about a baby too. You were raised by nannies and maids, and that isn’t the life you want for any child of yours.

You’re on the verge of tears just thinking about it and wonder what’s going to happen if this is a positive. What will you do? Will you quit your job? She certainly won’t quit hers- maternity leave is going to be hard enough to talk her into after all- so who will watch him or her? Public, private, or boarding school? What if you have a girl and she starts showing interest in boys? What if you have to give him the talk?

What if they don’t love you?

You’re actually crying by the time she exits the bathroom. Before she can say anything, you’re kissing her senseless and trying to promise everything. She pulls back gently and holds up the test to show you what she tested. She’s crying too, but you both have wide smiles on your faces because she’s pregnant.

You’re both kissing again and you don’t know when the test hits the floor but soon you’re in the dining room and you look like two messes trying to figure this out. But it’s gonna be okay because you might have a baby on the way and it’s great.

* * *

You’re one month in, had the test confirmed at a doctor’s office, and she’s vomiting almost every morning- but she’s still working as hard as ever. Honestly, that woman can be such a pain sometimes but you love her and you want her to be safe. It’s always “I just need to wrap up this case and I’ll take a few days off.” She has enough vacation days piled up after all. She could take a break here and there. But you also know that her team would be lost without her.

She’s having a hard time accepting that she’s gonna have to let it go for a little while, and you can only assure her that nothing big will happen while she’s gone. You know that her firm doesn’t allow maternity leave until after the baby is born- however, you did some looking into it and it turns out that the state of California allows a month before the baby is born on disability pay for any place of business.

She shot that down quickly.

So tonight, you’ve decided to do something special. She’s walking through the door right now, ready to take her files up to her office for some overtime when you stop her.

“Wait just a minute there,” you say from the living room, which is to the left of the door.

She peeks from by the door where’s she taking her shoes off. There are color swatches, both laptops, multiple website print outs and other such papers scattered about the coffee table, along with the ottoman and the sectional across from where you’re sitting on the plain loveseat. You took the day off to get this set up- something that is equally hard for you to do- but it was all worth it.

“What’s all this?” she asks.

“I decided that the only way you’re gonna get some rest is if you’re doing something productive with it,” you say flatly. “We have eight more months to figure this out- so let’s start tonight.”

She shifts her glasses and gives you a sneaky grin. “So you want me to dump my files for tonight and pick up some color swatches?”

“Not just color swatches!” you say as you turn around one of the laptops. “I have three baby name websites up. I was thinking along the lines of ‘Lewis’ and ‘Marie’ myself.”

“Those names are ugly. I’ll go change- you find some better ones!” she says, already trotting up the stairs as quickly as she can.

You married quite the busy bee. Now you have to slow her down a bit.

* * *

Seventeen weeks in- you were told to stop doing things by months- and you’re already painting a nursery. You were originally going to figure out the gender before you did this- and you could have- but you both decided not to after the idea of a surprise got you both so excited.

She wanted to do yellow, but you thought purple was a very nice color as well. It was the first time you got her to go your way without compromise. You’ve decided on a “magic” theme, as you call it, and you’re actually painting a large violet wizard right now. Of course, Ruth is critiquing every stroke.

The doctor told her that she could help if she wore long clothing and a mask, along with leaving the window open, she could help with decorating the room. Of course, you wouldn’t let her help with the main paint of the walls in fear of the fumes becoming too much. That was decided by yourself while she was working overtime and you just so happened to have six cans of the color you picked out all ready to go along with several tarps.

She was pretty pissed.

Now she’s shoving you out of the way, taking your brush out of your hands and painting it herself because you can’t paint a fucking violet wizard. Way to go.

You know she doesn’t mean it though because she’s smiling and turning your horrible handy work into art. She’s good, you have to admit that. While she’s working on that, you start piling up some of the tarps left over from the first paint job and throwing them out downstairs. When you come back inside you’re half way up the steps when you hear your wife calling out for you.

“Honey!? Honey, come quick!”

Now you’re flying up the stairs as quickly as you can and you’re in the doorway of your firstborn’s nursery, expecting the worst case scenario. What you see is your wife sitting down with a hand on her slightly distended stomach and giving you a wide smile.

“The baby’s kicking!” she says with an even wider smile.

You have lavender and violet paint all over your hands and face, your hair is a mess, and your clothes are all but destroyed. And you know what? You could really care less about any of that right now because your wife’s hand is pressing your own delicately onto her stomach and your child is drumming on it repetitively and you’re both smiling like the biggest dorks in the world because this is your baby.

You’re on the verge of tears because the kicking stops within a few seconds and you look at up at her and see the smile which has been painted onto her freckled cheeks.

* * *

You’re going to kill somebody, and it’s probably going to be that obnoxious Vantas sitting next to you or the idiot Peixes-Captor sitting across from you.  Most likely, both. But your wife wouldn’t like that, now would she? Not when these are the plus one guests to her baby shower, at least. She said so herself that any other time is fine. You’re looking forward to any other time.

She’s in the other room right now and told you to come in here and chat with two of the other future dads from the baby-and-me classes. It isn’t like you haven’t met these guys before. Their wives (Dessie Vantas and Betty Peixes-Captor) were in the baby-and-me classes your wife dragged you to every week for the past month. Now, Ruth has grown to become great friends with them. The only problem is that she expects you to be friends with their husbands.

You’ll give Silas some credit. He isn’t that bad. You just wish that he would shut the fuck up.

And then there’s Siimon. Not only does he spell his name like a tool, but he’s also just an all around idiot. Pretty much the only thing you respect him for is his dedication to blue collared labor. You know how it is working your way up from the bottom, and just because you had a few more perks in life than him means nothing.

Back to why he’s such an idiot: The guy only seems to care about football and really bad science fiction movies you’ve never seen and never care to see. How do you know they’re bad? You’ll never know.

It seems that he and Silas go way back, but you know nothing about that. The only events you’ve seen them at since meeting them is their wives’ respective baby showers- held about a month and a month and a half ago. That is why not only are you dealing with these two, but you also have grown women repetitively cooing at the twin babies in the next room- and those are only the women that have shown up so far.

You restrain yourself from groaning in agony. That is when you realize Silas is actually trying to communicate with you.

“Dan- eh- you feeling alright?” he asks.

“Yea, I’m fine. What’s it to you?”

“Hey, don’t worry. We’ve been in your boat.”

“Oh? And what kind of boat is that?”

“The one where your wife has been pregnant all this time but now it’s actually starting to feel real because you only have one month to go. Look we don’t have some deep connection with you or whatever, but we get it.”

You resist the urge to click your tongue and roll your eyes as you stand up and grumble that you’re going to get a beer (which you can’t keep in the kitchen fridge anymore due to an incident last week involving a misplaced can of soda). As you pass the living room, you linger in the doorway for a little while as you make eye contact with the twin bundles of joy sitting in the arms of the Indian woman with hot pink glasses in the corner of the room. It’s a tiny baby girl who’s trying to sleep through the cries of “aw” and whatnot coming from the women around her. The other is a boy who’s hair has already grown into his face and he’s smiling at the affection around him from the other arm.

You’re paralyzed with shock at the adorable younglings and quickly make your way down the rest of the hall when you notice Betty looking up at you creepily standing there in the doorway. Now instead of getting a beer from the garage, you’re just sitting there with the most sickeningly sweet expression in your eyes and a small smile on your face. You’re about to go inside again, but first you have to compose yourself.

* * *

That was about one month ago. Now you’re helping your wife into the car and trying not to faint as you prepare drive to the hospital. The contractions are five minutes apart and you need to get going.

You’re considering things you may have forgotten when a long string of profanities from Ruth launches you into action and you’re driving down the road as quickly as you can because holy shit- you’re terrified. You’ve seen almost every horror story and now they’re all coming back to haunt you.

When you get to the hospital, you are directed to the maternity ward and you just can’t seem to sign in fast enough. Once your wife is safely in the hospital room, and paired up with the delivery nurse, you’re outside to get the diaper bag you left in the car. This is the most stressful day of your life and nothing is going to change that.

\--

This is the happiest day of your life and nothing is going to change that.

You’re staring down at your son that your wife won’t let you hold right at the moment (because you’ll have all of the time in the world when she goes to sleep) and he’s perfect. He is the most perfect thing in all of creation with a slightly lighter version of your eyes and a tuft of your hair.

“What are we gonna name him?” you ask quietly.

You never did decide on a name.

“How about Cronus?” she says, sparking your interests.

“You mean the Greek god?” She nods and you look back from her to your son.

Cronus Ampora it is.

* * *

Your name is Cronus Ampora and you’re two years old. You just turned so a few days ago, and now your mommy is yelling really loudly and talking in that “sailor language” you’re daddy told you about. He says that it’s because your new baby brother is coming, but you don’t know what the stork has to do with any of this. You’re quite confused actually because, not only is mommy yelling a lot, but daddy is really worried about something.

While he’s getting you dressed to leave for the hospital (where he’s going to meet your brother) he tells you that it’s only because you weren’t expecting this for another month.

You suppose that’s true, after all that’s why Muelin, Mituna, and Meenah came over a week ago to throw a party for her, which you didn’t really get because she wasn’t here to party along with you guys. It was kind of sad in that respect.

Now you’re hugging your sea horse to your chest on Muelin’s floor in Mr. and Mrs. Vantas’s House. Your daddy went with your mommy to meet your little brother, but he was really smart and made plans for you to spend the day here at Meulin’s. It’s about three in the morning, so you’re supposed to be asleep, but of course Muelin wants to talk.

“You’re getting a little brother!” Muelin says. “Ugh! You are so lucky!”

“Aren’t you getting a brother too?”

“Yea but that’s gonna be forever!” she says as she flops dramatically on the bed. “Besides, I’d really like a sister. At least you’ll be able to do things with your brother! What am I supposed to do?”

“Hey, I like tea parties and stuff! Why wouldn’t he?!” you say definitely, knowing very well where she’s going with this.

“Well you do! But I don’t know any other boys like that!”

“Horuss.”

“Yea but-”

“Mituna.”

“Okay just those two!”

“Kurloz.”

“Okay, okay I get it! But what if he doesn’t like tea parties, or make believe, or even,” she gasped, “What if he doesn’t like cats?!”

So these were the kinds of thing Muelin is worried about. You just hope that, whether he likes your games or not, your new brother will like you.

* * *

When you finally wake up, you see that the one that woke you up is your dad. He is standing over you with a big smile and trying to speak in a hushed tone, but is really excited about something.

“Hey, sport. Ready to go home?”

It’s night now, and you’re starting to remember how you and Muelin had crashed in the living room after a large sugar high when your daddy didn’t come home yesterday. You then remember why you’re at Muelin’s in the first place.

“Is the baby here?” you ask. You’re really excited about your baby bro.

“Shh, Muelin’s sleeping,” he says as you stand to your feet. “I have all of your stuff packed. She’s in the car.”

You knew your mommy had to be in the car, and you just sort of assume the baby’s there too. Your dad helps you get your coat on and you’re outside in your booster seat. Sitting next to you in the middle is a car seat with a baby tucked up neatly. The hair isn’t black like yours and your daddy’s. It’s red like mommy’s and the baby even has light freckles.

“What’s his name?” you ask in a low voice to keep from waking the baby up (because daddy already told you that waking the baby up is really bad) as your father straps you in.

“Well, actually Cronus, there was a bit of a mix up.”

“What’s wrong, daddy?”

Your mother makes a noise in the seat in front of you and you can tell she’s asleep.

Your daddy looks you in the eye and says “I’ll tell you when we get home okay?”

You want to protest, but there really is nothing to say because your father has already buckled you in and now he’s circling around the car to get into the driver’s seat. Soon enough, the car has started.

You make your way home and your mommy wakes up when your father opens the door to get the baby out. She gets you out of your seat with a loving smile and opens the door for you and your father before entering herself. You’re about to ask what your father meant when you find yourself drawn to follow your parents upstairs to the baby’s room. It’s decorated blue and has fantasy creatures dancing around the walls. There are knights and dragons and pictures everywhere. You think it’s a nice room, but it isn’t anything compared to your wizard room. You love your wizard room.

“What’s his name?” you ask again, not raising your voice.

Your mother tenses up and she looks down at you through her red-rimmed glasses.

“Actually sweetie, there’s something you need to know. Do you remember how we got those papers from the stork telling us that we were going to have a boy?”

You nod and look from her to your father and back to her.

“Well, the stork mixed up our papers.”

“You mean we got the wrong baby?!” you shout quite loudly, causing your father to look back at the baby in the crib with worry and he even inches towards it as your mommy starts shushing you and holding your arms to calm you down.

“No, no! We have the right baby, Cronus! We have the right baby. We just didn’t get the right papers!”

You’re looking at her with a bit of uncertainty now but she leads you over to the crib and picks you up to look into it properly.

“Cronus,” your father says, “Meet your little sister, Latula.”

* * *

It’s been five years since then and you’re now a rowdy seven year old. In fact, almost as to show how rowdy you are, you’re actually running around at a birthday party of a close friend. Chasing said close friend. Tackling her to the ground. And now you’re wrestling with Meenah and you’re not really sure who’s winning. Next thing you know, Mituna is on top of you and quickly shoving you off. That’s okay though because Muelin is at your side at once. And where there is Muelin, there is Horuss and Kurloz.

“Get off of me!” Meenah says as Mituna is carefully pulling her away from you.

“Something wrong?” Aranea asks when she comes over. You met her, along with her younger brother of one year, in kindergarten, and she and Meenah have been attached at the hip ever since.

Then there’s Porrim, who has also joined your little group. Not only is she in Kurloz’s second grade class, (because she’s one  older than you all just like him which makes her awesome) but she’s also Muelin’s cousin. That girl has all of the hook ups.

Rufioh, Aranea’s younger brother, has joined you all on the ground as you and Meenah are growling playfully at each other (at least, you’re being playful.)

“This kid started chasing me!”

“It’s called cops and robbers, Mee!” you say, making sure to include your nickname for her while Mituna is helping her stand up. “Not to mention, you were supposed to go to jail when I tagged you- not keep running!”

“Yea, I knew that,” she says. “Because you’ll never take me alive!”

Before she can bolt off, Rufioh grabs her by the arm.

“I wanna play too!”

“So do I!” Muelin says. “It sounds furry fun!”

“Let’s all play!” Jake says as he trots over to your group.

Yea he’s pretty cool. For a four year old. He’s a friend of Tula’s that you and the others met during a large play date. You also met Dirk, who’s standing behind him quietly. They’re the coolest of the younger kids, other than your sister because (as much as you hate to admit it) she is the raddest person ever to live ever, but still, you all made a pact long ago.

“Sorry scrub,” Meenah says. “No babies allowed! Come on guys, Tunafish! You’re on my team!”

Mituna seems excited and lets out an “Alright!”

“Come on!” Jake wines. “We want to play too! And we’re not babies! We’re almost five!”

“Yea, and today- I’m seven!” Meenah says as she places her hands on her hips.

“What’s going on?” a familiar voice says as a small boy in a red sweater grabs onto Muelin’s shirt and stands next to her.

“Don’t bother, Kankri!” Jake says in a huff. “They’ll probably just tell you you’re not old enough!”

“That’s right!” Meenah says. “Now go be a baby somewhere else!”

“What are you going to play?”

“Cops and robbers!” Porrim is the one to answer Kankri. “Would you like to play?”

“Porrim! What the heck!” Meenah says in large overrated exclamation.

“I’m not leaving Kanny out of anything.” She leans into Meenah in a threatening way and adds “Besides- the youngest of you, Rufioh, is six. Five is one less than six, and seven is one less than eight. So, to Kurloz and me, you’re a baby.”

Meenah gets really flustered at that and looked away before saying “Fine! The brats can play! But Aranea’s on my team too! So there!”

Latula and Damara come over as well after seeing all of the commotion. Damara is actually one year older than you, so there really should be no reason not to play with her. But she usually plays by herself. Meenah says it’s because she’s a “scrub” whatever that is.

Roxy and Jane join you all soon enough from where they were playing with a tea set by the tree. They had been playing with Kurloz, Muelin, and Mituna. Before they ran over to break up your childish fight, that is.

“What are you guys up to?” Roxy asks.

“We’re playing cops and robbers,” Aranea says. “Here’s how you play: there are two teams, the cops and the robbers. If you’re a robber, and the cop catches you- you go to jail! Then, when all of the robbers are put into jail-”

“If all of the robbers are put into jail!” Meenah corrects as she pops over her shoulder.

Aranea clears her throat. “If all of the robbers are put into jail, the two teams switch and the cops become the robbers and the robbers become the cops! Make sense?”

“Right-eeo!” Jake says, jumping from the excitement. You can tell that this young whippersnapper is going to make a great addition to your game, you have no idea why you protested him joining you before.

“Alright! Then we’ll start picking teams!” Meenah says. “I get first pick! Aranea- Tunafish- you’re with me!”

You don’t say anything because, honestly that’s a given.

“Wait, which team are you?” Rufioh asks.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Meenah asks as she starts grinning. “We’re the robbers. Cronus- you can lead the cops!”

“Cronus is the leader?”Mituna says. “Pfft! This is gonna be easy.”

“That’s what you think, bub!” you declare loudly. “Tula, get over here! You too, Mue!”

Tula jumps over to your side, cherry red sneakers hitting the ground quickly. You know that she’s really fast, and you’re glad that she’s gonna be on your team- even if she is only five.

Muelin moves a bit slower and glares at Meenah as she says, “You better not choose Kurloz! He’s gonna be Cronus’s next pick!” She looks up and gives you a bright smile. “Right Cronus?”

You were actually going to choose Horuss and Porrim next, but you suppose Horuss and Kurloz will work just fine. So you nod and say “Yea, totally.”

“Well, no biggie!” Meenah says. “Because my next choice is-!” she’s cut off when Aranea leans over and whispers something in her ear. She lets out a long sigh and says “Rufioh and Jane.”

“Goody goody!” Jane says as she walks over to stand next to the others.

Rufioh stands by his sister with a wide grin, not really saying anything on the subject, but you can tell that he’s really happy to be on the same team as his beloved sister.

“Horuss and Kurloz,” you say quickly.

Kurloz is already halfway over, but Horuss looks surprised. The surprise gives into giddiness as he looks at Muelin. You wish that you had that kind of a friendship with someone. Now you have to wait to see if your original plans can go into action.

“Alright then,” Meenah says. “I choose Porrim and-”

“Kanny.” Porrim cuts her off and you look at her.

“Actually, I was gonna pick you and Roxy,” Meenah says as she sticks out her lower lip and places her hands on her hips.

 “I’m not going on any team without Kanny.” You’re glad that you can have her on your team- earning you two older players- but you’re kind of worried about having someone as tiny as Kankri on your team. The kid’s just kind of standing there with a dumb look on his face. Porrim looks like a mom as she stands behind him like that, hands on his shoulders.

“Ugh, fine!” Meenah says as she stamps her foot. Then I guess its Roxy and…” she trails off as she looks at the players left. “Spiky kid!”

Dirk looks at up at her with a glare but walks over.

That leaves you to your original plans. “Alright! Porrim, Kankri, you can come on over!”

Porrim smiles at getting her way and pushes Kankri over to your group.

Meenah glares at you with as much hate as an eight year old can muster before looking at Jake. “Eh- Jake? Get over here.”

He looks so happy to run over to the other team. You simply look at Damara and she sighs before walking over to you.

“Alright then!” Meenah says. “The jail is the tree over there, agreed?” Everyone nods in unison. “Then- Robbers get a five second head start!” she yells, causing the experienced robbers to dart away from the scene. The others take a moment to take in what she had said, as do the players on your team.

Luckily, none of them make the penalty move of running before the five seconds is over, and then you’re all running around the yard. You know the adults are watching you from the porch as you attempt to catch the sleeves of the players running through the yard and crossing paths with others.

“Ding doodle wing nuts!” you hear Jake yell. “I’ve been snatched!”

Next, you manage to catch Mituna on the back and hear him yell, “Tartar sauce!”

People continue getting thrown into jail, and even Aranea isn’t fast enough to escape Porrim’s quick hands. Finally, all that’s left is Meenah. You’re all chasing her, but she manages to get by all of you. Finally, Kurloz sticks his arm out, catching her with ease. Your team did it. You caught all of the robbers! Cheers fill the yard as the jail empties.

“You may have won this time,” Meenah says, “but you won’t win so easily when we’re the cops!”

* * *

Your name is Latula Ampora and today is one of the happiest days of your life. You’re finally getting a younger sibling. No longer will you be the runt of the household, at a stunning and mature eight years of age, but you will be revered as an elder, your rightful place.

They left early this morning, but its night now as you wait at home with your brother for your mother and father to return from the hospital. Of course, it isn’t just him. It’s also your favorite adult, Rosa Maryam, and her two daughters. Porrim is sitting with you and Cronus, playing Monopoly, while Kanaya is being read to on the couch.

“Is it going to be a little boy or a little girl?” Porrim asks from across the table.

“Mom and dad didn’t ask,” Cronus says. “They said they wanted a surprise.”

“I hope it’s a girl!” you shriek loudly as you stand up on your chair. “That way, I can sit her on my skate board, and she can zip around the house with me!”

“Mom and dad said no skateboarding in the house,” Cronus says as he moves his piece across the board.

“If it’s the baby they won’t mind,” you say, trying to contain your lisp, which comes from your missing canine. You run your tongue over the spot slightly. That’s when you hear the door swing open.

You run over to the living room as you hear your father bellow, “We’re home!”

Once you’ve scampered in there, your brother not too far behind, you find yourself smiling as large as you can at the dark purple blanket your mother’s holding. Rosa stands from the couch with Kanaya on her hip as she makes space for your mother to sit down. Your father walks behind the couch and peaks over her shoulder. He looks proud as he smiles down at your mother and the baby. You don’t hesitate to scramble up onto the empty seat by your mother. Standing there by her as you look down at the baby, you smile even wider.

“Latula, Cronus,” your mother says, “meet your baby brother.”

“What’s his name?” Cronus asks, looking at the baby from in front of the couch.

“Eridan,” your father says, smiling at you both. “His name is Eridan.”

* * *

You’re name is Eridan and you’re two years old today, but you can’t really be happy about that right now because your glasses lay smashed and you’re crying your eyes out while your brother hovers over you. Karkat, your best friend, is screaming at him, but you can’t really understand through your sobs. A hand comes over your back and you just know it’s Kanaya but you can’t really look up.

Your head hurts a lot and the last thing you remember before it hurting so much was seeing Cronus holding a slingshot. Soon enough, you hear the clacking of high heels and finally look up to see  your mother, being lead into the backyard by Feferi, another friend of yours. You want to say something but you’re still crying too hard. Then she picks you up and you really can’t say anything.

Karkat stops yelling at Cronus and you can hear him say, “Eridan and I told him not to play with his slingshot- we told him!”

Your mother doesn’t pay him any mind. “Why don’t you kids just go off and play somewhere else? Cronus, follow me inside- Tula, go ahead.”

You see through your fingers as Karkat is about to say something but Kanaya is pulling him away before he can get it out. Then you’re inside the house and on your mother’s knee. She’s rubbing your back and glaring at your brother.

“Cronus, that was really dangerous! You know we don’t like you playing with that thing when no one’s watching you!” she says sternly.

You don’t look up at her or your brother. You just sit there.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” she asks.

You look up after that when you hear Cronus say, “I’m sorry Eri. I really should have listened to you when you said it was dangerous. I won’t do it ever again.” That’s when you notice that he’s crying too. “Are you angry at me?”

You look up at your mommy first before you look at him and say, “It’s okay. It’s not like you meant to do it. I’m not angry at you.”

Your mother sighs sharply. “Cronus, go up to your room. We’ll talk about this later.” He goes up the stairs slowly and she looks down at you with sad eyes. You inherited her farsightedness, or that’s what the optometrist says you have, and that’s why you really need those dopey black glasses. You never understood how your mother can look so cool in her red ones, when you look so dumb.

As things are, those dumb glasses lay shattered in the driveway. They are, however, the only reason you still have a right eye. Their frames were the only things standing between your eye and the stone Cronus had intended to launch at the tree you were standing beside. As things are, you’re only left with a welt you can feel building beside your temple and a broken pair of really expensive glasses.

She doesn’t care about that though. “Are you okay baby?” she asks, rubbing a hand gently over your bump.

You nod slowly and wipe the back of your hand over your eye.

“Okay? Wanna go back outside?” you nod again. “Okay then. I’m going to go talk to Cronus real quick. Then I’ll be back out for cake alright?”

You nod as she slides you of her lap and walks you into the kitchen before letting you out into the back yard.

* * *

That was a little under a year ago. About a month after that party, your mommy found out that the stork was coming with another baby for your house. You didn’t know how to feel about that, but now you think you should be happier than everyone is right now.

You’re in the hospital waiting room with your brother, sister, and the Vantas family. You and Karkat are playing with hospital blocks, but you can’t focus all that well because you can see your brother and sister. They look pretty upset about something. You don’t know why though. You don’t even know why you’re at the hospital.

Your sister said that, when you were born, your mommy and daddy went to meet the stork by themselves while they stayed home. You’re not really sure what’s going on, but your daddy looked really worried when you left the house. Cronus was the one who buckled you in, because his hands were shaking too much to get you in himself. You can see that Mrs. Vantas smiles at you, but her eye brows pinch together in worry when you look away. Karkat doesn’t seem to know what’s going on either, but you’re getting kind of tired. It’s three in the morning after all, no time for you to be up.

Kankri and Cronus aren’t talking like they normally do, and Muelin and Tula are too quiet.

Finally, a nurse comes in. That’s when Muelin scoops up Karkat and Cronus picks you up too. He takes you down the hall with Tula and the nurse, but Karkat isn’t following you. It’s just you, the nurse, and your siblings as you walk down that plain white corridor. Finally, you come to a room with familiar faces, and the nurse leaves with a small nod.

Your dad gives you a slight smile, but you can tell that he’s been crying. Your mommy looks really tired as she looks down. Then you see what she’s looking at. It’s a baby who’s a lot smaller than you are. Cronus props you by the bed and you look up at them.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” you ask when no one talks.

Your mom looks down at you for a little while. She smiles and says, “She’s a girl.”

You nod and look back at the baby in the teal blanket.

“Want to hold her, Eri?” your dad asks.

You look up at him with surprise, but you smile and nod a lot. Cronus picks you up again and sets you down in the hospital chair by the bed. Your dad picks up your baby sister and sits next to you before laying her in your arms. You look down at her. Her eyes are open. They’re green, like yours. You even notice the orange hair, owned by you, your mom, and now both of your sisters.       But you’re stuck on her eyes. She’s not looking at you. You don’t think she’s looking at anything really. Her eyes are kind of clouded and you can’t really focus on anything about them. It’s almost as if they aren’t focusing either.

“What’s wrong with her eyes?”

You see Latula jump, as if she’s just realized what’s going on, Cronus too. Your mother isn’t really looking at you. So you turn to your daddy. He looks at you and his smile’s gone.

“You see, Eridan,” it’s never a good sign when he uses your whole name, “something went wrong before we left today. There was an accident, and now your sister can’t…” He’s getting choked up. “She can’t see. She’s blind.”

You look down at your sister. “What’s her name?”

Your dad looks over at your mommy and she says, “Well, we’re not sure yet. We didn’t really pick out a name.”

You tilt your head and don’t look up. “Okay then, what am I gonna call her until she gets one?”

Your dad lets out a small groan as he reaches over and places a hand on your shoulder, yet Cronus is the one to say, “You can call her sissy.” You look up at him with a questioning glance. “That’s what I called Tula for a while.”

You nod and look back down at her. “Hey sissy. My name’s Eridan. I have orange hair, like you, and green eyes, like you. I’m wearing really big glasses. You can laugh at them if you want, I won’t mind. I wear them because-”

“Eridan,” your daddy says, making you look up at him. “What are you doing?”

“I’m telling her what I look like,” you say. “If she can’t see me, I want her to know what I look like. Don’t worry about telling her what you look like because I’m going to tell her about you and mommy, and Cronus and Tula too. Then we can go out and I can tell her about Karkat and Muelin and-”

You’re cut off again because you’re father’s crying and you don’t know why.

“Daddy? Why are you sad?” you ask before looking

“I’m not sad,” he says with a smile. “I’m just happy that she has such a great older brother like you.”

He runs a hand through your hair and you see that your mother’s smiling now too. She turns to Cronus, “Honey, can you go get the Vantases? I’m sure they want to meet her too.”

“Okay mom,” Cronus says.

You look down at your sister and start telling her more about what your family looks like.

“Eri?” Tula says. “Can I see her?”

You look at your sister and then the baby. You nod to your father and he takes her from you so you can hop out of the chair and Tula can sit up instead. You’re sitting in your father’s lap when Karkat runs into the room. He tries to see your sister over the arm of the chair, but he’s not tall enough.

“Karkat!” Mrs. Vantas says when she comes in. “I told you not to- oh!” She sees the baby in your sister’s arms and she smiles. She walks over and picks Karkat up so he can actually get a look.

Mr. Vantas, Muelin, Kankri, and Cronus all come in next, and your sister moves a bit. You see Mr. Vantas talking to your mother out of the corner of your eye and he shakes his head a bit before joining the circle around the baby.

“So, she can’t see?” he asks your father, who gives a nod. “You know, you could always go with this Greek pattern you have here in the family with your boys, if you don’t have a name picked out.”

* * *

Named for the blind prophet of Oedipus- probably the smartest character in the trilogy of plays- your name is Terezi Ampora.  You have one month until your first day of school and you are so afraid. You’re crying into your hands, trying not to make too much noise. You stop crying when you hear a creak in the hallway. You turn your head so that you can hear better.

“Hey, Tez. It’s me.” It’s just your brother, Eridan.

“What do you want, Eridan?” you ask as you sink back against your bed.

He walks over to you and kneels next to you. “I was just wondering why you’re crying.”

You puff your cheeks and pick your cane up from where it sits by your feet. You can’t help but hate this thing. It means that you’re going to have to start going places without a family member nearby. Rolling this hated thing around in your tiny fists, you find someone laying their own hand over yours.

“Tez, you can tell me anything, you know?” Eridan says.

You shake a little before dropping the cane and holding your face. “I’m afraid that people are going to treat me differently,” you say. “I don’t care that I’m blind, and neither do you guys, but I know that other kids are going to be there, and they might. I don’t know what I’m gonna do if that happens.”

Eridan doesn’t say anything at first. He just sits there. You hear a bit of shuffling around before two arms wrap around your sides.

“Tez, you’re gonna be fine!” he says. “You’re way smarter than all of the kids that are gonna be there- you’ve read a whole Harry Potter book with dots! That’s really smart right there. And you know more about dragons than anyone I’ve ever met! And you’re really rad!”

You don’t really know what that word means per say, but you know that, in your brother’s case, that word is usually reserved for your older siblings and your mother- who were the coolest people you’ve ever met- so it puts a large smile on your face.

“You really think I’m rad?”

“Yea, Tez!” He leans in and whispers to you, “I even think you’re cooler than Tula and Cro.”

That sends you into all kinds of happy. You know he’d never say that you were cooler than your mom, because she is the raddest of rad that ever dared to rad. You still really don’t know what that word means, but that doesn’t stop you from leaning up and hugging your brother tightly. “Thanks Eridan! I feel a lot better now.”

“Yea, and by the way, if anyone gives you trouble, they’ll have to deal with me!” he says. “Now, come on, I wanted to go defeat a monster today- and even the greatest of wizards are nothing without their dragons!”

You stand up and he grabs your hand before leading you down the hall to his room. You suddenly feel a lot better about going to kindergarten.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it. Also, a big sorry to anyone named Lewis/Marie. I actually like those names, myself.   
> On another note, I hope to make this series pretty big on my to do list. This was the hardest part. Now prepare for oneshots filling up this series like nothing you've seen before.


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